Title Insurance Expert

Mr. Hager’s title insurance expertise can be found as follows: (i) as summarized immediately below, and (ii) as set forth in his Curriculum Vitae (downloadable from the home page of this website).

As a title insurance expert, Mr. Hager calls upon expert knowledge of the following matters, among others: (i) the regulation of title insurance, (ii) title insurance itself, (iii) title insurance companies and their duties and obligations in particular as to their policy forms and claim settlement practices and (iv) the duties and obligations of insureds as to such matters. Set out below is Mr. Hager’s specific expertise as to these matters.

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Regulatory. Beginning with the regulation, Mr. Hager’s expertise as to title insurance matters can be found below. He is a former:

• Commissioner of Insurance (Iowa);

• First Deputy Commissioner of Insurance; and

• Assistant Attorney General assigned on a full time basis to the Iowa Department of Insurance (functioning as the Department’s general counsel).

• Administrative Law Judge, f/k/a Hearing Officer;

• Member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and Member of its Executive Committee*

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Legislative. In addition to his regulatory background, he has served or is serving in the following legislative capacities, each of which included daily knowledge of and interaction with title insurance as it relates to (i) the regulation of title insurance, (ii) title insurance itself, (iii) title insurance companies and their duties and obligations in particular as to their policy forms and claim settlement practices and (iv) the duties and obligations of insureds as to such matters.

• Legal Counsel to the Iowa House of Representatives;

• Chief of Staff at the U.S. House of Representatives,

• Elected Member of the Florida House of Representatives (I am currently serving my 6th year in the Florida House of Representatives) where he serves as a Member and Vice Chairman of the Insurance Committee (among other committees), which has legislative oversight over all insurance operations in the state (as administered by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation) including those relating to title insurance;

• In addition, he has sat on and served as Vice Chairman of the Civil Justice Subcommittee of the Florida House, which has responsibilities as to Florida laws that establish (among other things) liability, which is of course the foundation to much of title insurance obligations,

• Elected Member of the Boca Raton City Council; Deputy Mayor of the City of Boca Raton, where he served as the Council’s lead Member on insurance issues;

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Industry. In addition to his regulatory background and legislative background as to title insurance, Mr. Hager has served or is serving in the following capacities, each of which included daily knowledge of and interaction with title insurance in the following ways: (i) the regulation of title insurance, (ii) title insurance itself, (iii) title insurance companies and their duties and obligations in particular as to their policy forms and claim settlement practices and (iv) the duties and obligations of insureds as to such matters.

• American Academy of Actuaries, Washington, D.C., (whose members are often intimately involved in title insurance) where I served as General Counsel and Chief Lobbyist;

• President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), a major U.S. property casualty insurance company doing business throughout the United States, which employs about 1,000 personnel. While CEO, this position entailed responsibility for pricing some $100 billion of property casualty insurance premium;

• Attorney practicing primarily in the area of insurance and reinsurance and admitted to practice in Florida, Illinois (This Illinois license is in inactive status, placed there by me at my volition and eligible for reactivation at any point in time upon my request) and Iowa (all upon examination) with an insurance practice;

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Industry: Reinsurance Arbitrator. In addition to his regulatory background and legislative background as to title insurance, he has served or is serving in the following capacity, which included daily knowledge of and interaction with title insurance in the following ways: (i) the regulation of title insurance, (ii) title insurance itself, (iii) title insurance companies and their duties and obligations in particular as to their policy forms and claim settlement practices and (iv) the duties and obligations of insureds as to such matters.

• Nationally certified Reinsurance Arbitrator (ARIAS-US), where he sits as an arbitrator on disputes between (among others) insurers and their reinsurers and enters decisions as to insurance;

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Legal. In addition to his regulatory, industry, legislative and reinsurance arbitration background, he serves or is serving in the following legal capacities, each of which included daily knowledge of title insurance in the following ways: (i) the regulation of title insurance, (ii) title insurance itself, (iii) title insurance companies and their duties and obligations in particular as to their policy forms and claim settlement practices and (iv) the duties and obligations of insureds as to such matters.

• As stated above, Mr. Hager is an attorney admitted to practice in Florida, Illinois and Iowa (all upon examination) with an insurance practice;

• Legal Counsel to the Iowa Association of Life Underwriters (life, health and annuity insurance agents).

• Practicing attorney (currently) in Florida at the Hager Law Firm;

• General Counsel and Chief Lobbyist to the American Academy of Actuaries, whose members are often involved in title insurance matters, particularly from a pricing and policy language standpoint;

Applicable Title Insurance Expertise: Formal Education as a Bases for Title insurance Expertise. In addition to his regulatory, legislative, industry, arbitration and legal background, Mr. Hager’s educational background has also well-equipped him to provide title insurance expertise as follows:

• Juris Doctorate degree (law degree) from the University of Illinois;

• Bar Admission: U.S. Supreme Court;

• Bar Admissions, the states of Iowa, Illinois and Florida, all by examination;

• Certified U.S. Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitrator;

In the aggregate, these experiences have given Mr. Hager a significant grounding to provide title insurance expert testimony. In addition, click on the link to read more about his expertise as to bad faith/lack of good faith to be read in conjunction with his curriculum vitae.

*Because the title insurance business is conducted across state lines and more specifically, nationally, the rules and regulations (by whatever name) are substantially similar state over state. His experience is substantially similar to parallel experience and positions throughout the U.S. This experience is bolstered by 40 years of direct insurance experience, including that of being a CEO of a major property casualty entity doing business throughout the U.S. and six years of experience as an elected Member of the Florida House of Representatives where he currently serve as Vice Chairman of the Insurance Committee, with statutory and legislative oversight over the title insurance business, which, as stated, is regulated in Florida much as it is in the rest of the U.S.